How do we cope with loss?

Our pet rat, Daisy, has what is probably severe cancer. The tumors are now so large that she can no longer use one of her paws. It's horrid. We have so loved this little creature. She's been part of our family for three years. Her favorite napping place is along the back of a person's neck. She has always loved curling up under my long hair.

Moving to a foreign country three years ago was an exciting and painful process. We were excited about the move and the adventure, but our cats went to family and friends and our dog went to live with my parents. Transporting animals so far and to a place where we were going from a large home to a smallish apartment was just not realistic. Even though they were all resettled in reasonable situations (we still spend summer holidays with our dog), it was still a painful process.

Daisy was a huge comfort to all of us when we arrived, but especially to me and the children. She came to us from another ex-pat family who's pet rat had given birth. Moving between countries is an adventure, but it is one that leaves you feeling very unsettled at times. Things like family, friends and pets keep you grounded in reality.

We have an appointment with the vet on Wednesday. Please be thinking about our family and our lovely little pet who is suffering so very much.

Peace (I sure could use some).

Amazing amount of readers

I'm totally amazed. On Friday, I had 12 readers visit this blog who were not family/friends but folks who found the blog via a google search. Again, I'm totally amazed. The blog has now had well over 1,000 hits since I started tracking the number of visitors.

Life here is moving along. I am staying busy with volunteer stuff. The latest bit of volunteering involves teaching kids (ages 11-?) about how to work/use 'muppets'. Really, it is great fun.

Not much to type about today, but my thoughts are so very much with all the folks in the southern U.S. who are effected by the oil gusher. My thoughts are also with the folks on the ground who are trying to plug the gusher.

Thanks again for reading.

Peace.

Postscript: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/world/asia/30marines.html Regardless of how you feel about war/military etc....this story highlights some of the cultural differences between 'East' and 'West'.

Bear Bells - to wear or not to wear - that is the question

This snap sure looks different from the desert doesn't it? I can't wait to stand in tall green grass again.

Well, summer is soon upon us. And with the coming of summer, comes the end of school. And with the end of school, comes summer holiday in the home country. Sigh...just can't wait.

The interesting thing for us this year is that our fave holiday place is loaded with 'black bears' this year. So, I've been reading up a bit.

There seems to be a lot of discussion about whether or not to wear bear bells. The idea is that the extra sound alerts a bear to your presence so they can run away. Some folks call them 'dinner bells', but this seems to come from folks who 'laugh in the face of danger' kind of thing. Here's some of what I found:
http://www.rei.com/product/600276
http://www.backpacker.com/community/ask_buck/168
http://www.yellowstone-bearman.com/b_spray.html
http://www.americanbear.org/blackbearfacts.htm

So, I'm taking my bear spray, and my kids are going to wear bells.

Peace.

Happy to be Here and Oil on the bottom

I'm so happy at the moment to be here. I have a lot of volunteer stuff to do this morning, so I'm hoping that looming work forces me to keep this brief. I have a lot on my mind.

I've been reading emails about break-ins and muggings back in my old neighborhood. Either crime really is getting worse or people are just talking about it more. Reading a story about a woman having her purse taken from her while she's in the same parking lot I've frequented more times than I can count is a bit surreal. I currently live in a place where I purposefully carry a very expensive lavish looking hand bag so I blend in better. Here, I carry a very fancy bag so that folks know I LIVE here and am not a tourist. The 'middle east' has a bad rap in the west for being a horrid place. But, you know what folks? My fancy hand bags and I are pretty happy, most of the time.

Now, turning to the oil industry. I've been reading about the spill going on currently in the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, I hope they can plug it/cap it/whatever to stop the spill quickly. What most people may not realize is that it is physically/technically more difficult to go to the bottom of the ocean than it is to go to the moon. The leak in the Gulf of Mexico is about 5,000 feet down.

Now, quoting from http://www.challengers101.com/Pressure.html (My thanks for this article!)
"Scuba divers know that as you go down to greater depths, the water pressure increases. In fact, the increase in pressure is 14.7 psi for every 34 feet of additional depth. A diver that descends to a depth of 100 feet must withstand a pressure of ...
( 100 ft / 34 ) x 14.7 = 43.24 psi
This pressure is in addition to the normal atmospheric pressure at the surface. The pressure limits the depth to which unprotected divers can go, and the pressure causes lots of problems.
The point is that as you descend deeper into a fluid, whether it be water or air or whatever, the pressure increases. And if you go upward toward the surface, the pressure becomes less.
Here is another view of the pressure at the bottom of a tank of water. Suppose the tank is rather tall so that the depth of water in the tank is 10 feet. What will be the pressure at the bottom of the tank?
We can use the relationship above to find the answer:
( 10 ft / 34 ) x 14.7 = 4.32 psi
This means that each square inch of surface area on the bottom of the tank is being pushed downward with a force of 4.32 pounds.
Now consider this: suppose we have a tall, skinny column of water 10 feet tall, with the column being one inch on each side. That is, its bottom surface area is 1 square inch. How much would the column of water weight?
Sparing you the details of the math, the weight of the column of water would be 4.32 pounds.
Here's the point: the pressure at the bottom of the tank in psi is the same as the weight of the water supported by each square inch of the bottom surface of the tank." At 5000 feet or about 1500m that's a lot of pressure. If I did my math correctly, that's almost 2,200 psi. Ouch. (Please email if I've messed up on my math.)

Maybe the world needs to work very hard on educating children to become better engineers. Maybe we need to inspire children more. Whomever is working on that oil leak, is literally and figuratively, working under a lot of pressure.

Peace.

Beautiful Water

Yes, the water really was that clear and that blue. I can not begin to describe how totally amazing it feels to jump into water that looks like this. I just can't go snorkeling in this spot often and long enough to satisfy my 'thirst'.

Water is such an amazing substance. Chemically speaking, there is nothing else that is quite like it. Life just wouldn't exist here without it. We drink it, we swim in it, we play in it, we love to look at it, we pull food from it, and we clean with it. So many people around the world even look to the simple substance that is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen for spiritual cleansing as well.

If summer holiday wasn't coming so soon, I'd be planning my next trip to this beautiful place to snorkel and chase fish, and find a certain type of spiritual cleansing.

Peace.

Blogger is going bananas

Well, I managed to get logged in ok. Whenever I try to log-in to my account to post here to the blog, I'm getting a 'bazillion' redirects. After digging around in the 'help center' or whatever, I still don't know if I have a problem still or not. So, hopefully, all will remain well.

Cousin JA had used this picture I took back when she was visiting. So, I thought maybe if it's good enough for her to use, maybe it was decent enough to post.

Not much happening. The husband is attempting to purchase another vehicle for himself (technically, I guess, it's a company vehicle). The husband's current vehicle is a 'lease' vehicle. Buying a used auto here is a bit of a complex thing - or at least it is to my mind. I just try to stay out of it. I'd rather visit the dentist for massive work than buy a used car.

Peace and enjoy today's fish.

Happy I went to the movies

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/kevin-costner-machine-bp-oil-clean/story?id=10689928&page=1

I don't have much time to type today, but I had to post the link to this story. I'm so very happy I've helped to pay for this research indirectly over the years by paying to watch 'Kevin Costner' movies and buying 'Kevin Costner' movies. I hope the gadget works and is used.

Peace.

To work or not to work...that is the question! And Yellowbar Angel

Today's snap is of a yellowbar angel fish. This photo doesn't do it's colors justice. The bar is normally a vivid yellow, but my camera just can't capture it.

Well, I've been offered a full-time slot doing 'support' work that follows one of my life's career paths. The pay is horrid, but the work would be painfully rewarding. How much stress would it add to the family life? How much stress would it add to my life? Is this the direction I am supposed to be going in? I don't know.

I actually had several people today who knew about the position approach me (they hadn't spoken with each other) and tell me, "Hey, there's a job you'd be just perfect for!" I mean, wow. What a total compliment is that? When a job, be it with horrid pay, is handed to you on a silver platter, do you go for it? Hmmmmm....

That bit aside, the weather here is currently 90F, windy, with widespread dust. Yuck. It looks like a raging thunderstorm is brewing, but it's massive amounts of dust. At least the flat feels cozy.

Well, Munchkin #1 needs this computer for his homework (his doesn't have the programs he needs), and I need to head for the kitchen to cook dinner. Tonight's menu: mushroom kebabs, beef kebab, and 3 varieties of chicken kebabs, hummus, whole grain wurzel bread, fresh veg, and fresh fruit. Thank goodness for comfort food!

Peace.

What a world; What a world

I made today's video while on a recent snorkel trip. The yellowbar angel fish were beautiful but a bit freaked out when I tried to film them.

It just blows my mind how some folks think 'being bad' is acceptable behaviour. Stepping aside from any potential theological insights, if human beings were to consistently behave in ways that hurt their fellow human beings, we would not survive for very long as a species. Humans are not that different from ants or honey bees. We require a complex society structure to not only survive but to thrive. As we begin the painful first gulps of air (metaphorically speaking) as we reach out and grasp and use technology, how will the technology affect our societies?

I was reading a post by an acquaintance on a networking site, when I encountered what was a new term to me: "flash mob." Here's a link to a definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob Upon reading further down the Wikipedia page, you will see a link for the book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold. I don't know anything about this book. Have any of you every heard of it? Is it worth reading?

Remember: "We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." Can you guess or do you know who said it? Hint: it's a pretty old quote.

Peace.

More Bad Russian IP Investelektrosviaz and Comstar

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation Investelektrosviaz Ltd. (95.27.232.55)

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation Investelektrosviaz Ltd. (89.178.152.159)

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation Investelektrosviaz Ltd. (89.178.179.34)

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation Investelektrosviaz Ltd. (95.26.3.36)

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation Comstar-direct Cjsc (91.78.16.92)

Moscow, Moscow City, Russian FederationInvestelektrosviaz Ltd. (93.80.66.33)

If you are ripping from this blog, I am posting your IP addresses, and I'm doing it in such a way that others can google search and see if you are stealing. You have been warned. Obviously if you 'rip' you are not a person of any faith or you would realize that your Creator is watching you.

Back from Snorkeling and Off-Roading

What an awesome weekend! Three 'snorkel runs', off-roading and all you can snarf breakfast and dinner buffets. A most excellent break from the world! Hopefully, Cousin JA is having a great time; I know the husband, kids and I are!

We've been into the souqs, seen forts/castles, eaten all kinds of food, hiked to a remote border, laid out on the beach - it's been a full few days. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought there was such fun snorkeling and hiking in the Middle East, so I'm trying to spread the word. And, I've got oceans of pictures and video to blog!

I have been doing my best to stay away from the news lately. I've been taking a bit of a break from the world. It's nice to be ignorant now and then, but I wouldn't want to stay this way forever!

Peace.

Bad IP Address from Investelektrosviaz Ltd?

Here's a suspicious IP address.
Moscow, Moscow City, Russian FederationInvestelektrosviaz Ltd. ( IP 93.80.66.33)

Number of entries: 2
Entry page time: 30th April 2010 12:23:49
Visit length: 24 seconds
Browser: IE 6.0
OP: Windows XP
Resolution: 1280x1024

If you rip or copy, you are stealing. I'm watching and publishing so you show up in a google search. You have been warned. You are being reported.

Walking through the door

Today's snap is from the lower portion of an old castle in Oman.

We all have many different opportunities put in front of us. It is our choice whether or not we choose to walk through those doors. I often wonder what life would have been like had I chose not to walked through certain doors, or if my husband had not walked through certain doors.

I was thinking about all the amazing opportunities my kids have since we're living here. Because we are putting our home in the home country on the market, we are settling in for the long haul. Did I ever dream I would end up here? No way.

I've been reading a bit about teachers. Teachers place many open doors in front of their students. But, it's up to the student to rise to the challenge and go through that door. It makes me so very sad to see a child who's struggling in school because they have quit trying. The student and teacher have to meet half-way.

I'm currently sitting at home in a very clean flat. Cousin JA is enroute to our home here, and well, she can't see what we really live like! I'm so very glad that she is coming to see us. We LOVE showing family and friends this amazing piece of the globe.

I'm adding in a link to a New York Times article on a very special educator here in the region:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/world/middleeast/01blind.html?pagewanted=1

Truly, an individual who opens doors.

Peace.